Chương 99: Chapter 85 – The Emperor and the Viscount

Vorduun tore into an ash worm nearly three times larger than himself with his bare claws. White fire exploded from his jaws and flooded into the creature's open wound as he ripped through the layered plating. The worm convulsed violently before collapsing into burning ash beneath the grey rain. Around him, the battlefield had become a nightmare. Leeches swarmed across the soaked ground in writhing masses only to burst apart beneath torrents of white flame from the ash tortoises.

Massive worms erupted beneath the battlefield without warning, devouring tortoises whole or smashing through the formation hard enough to scatter shells and ash in every direction. And worst of all— Tharvok, the Ashen Emperor, was losing. Vorduun's eyes snapped toward the center of the battlefield. The Ashen Emperor staggered backward beneath a tidal wave of rampant growth. Towering thorned roots erupted from the soaked earth around him while thick vines lashed toward his limbs like striking serpents.

White fire poured from Tharvok's jaws in roaring streams, reducing entire walls of plant matter into ash, but more growth surged forward immediately to replace it. Rowana never stopped moving. The corrupted First Elder darted around the giant tortoise in rapid bursts while violet lightning crackled beneath her skin. Massive root growths erupted wherever her feet touched the ground while thorned vines whipped toward Tharvok's exposed joints and neck. The Ashen Emperor lunged for her.

Ancient claws powerful enough to crush stone swept toward her. Rowana twisted aside at the last possible moment. Tharvok's claws missed her by inches before smashing through a wall of twisted roots instead. White flames exploded outward from his mouth immediately afterward, consuming the shattered growth in a storm of ash and pure essence. But the Emperor was slowing. Vorduun felt it with growing dread.

Tharvok's movements still carried overwhelming power, yet the old Emperor no longer possessed the speed to properly corner Rowana. Every strike came just slightly too late. Every turn lagged behind her movement by fractions of a second that slowly compounded. He was too old. Vorduun's stomach knotted. He should have taken the crown Cycles ago. The Duke tore a leech apart while regret twisted deeper inside him. Tharvok had ruled through more Cycles of Desolation than any Emperor before him. His flames remained pure.

His will remained unbroken. But his body had begun failing him long ago. Even Vorduun himself had passed his prime Cycles earlier. Yet he had delayed. He had grown comfortable teaching the young. Watching hatchlings cultivate. Watching the Front hold strong Cycle after Cycle beneath the endless ash. He should have stepped forward long ago. Another ash worm burst from beneath the battlefield. Vorduun slammed directly into it.

The Duke's shell crashed through plated armor while white fire flooded from his jaws into the worm's exposed flesh. The creature shrieked and twisted violently before collapsing into burning ruin.

"Brahm!" Vorduun roared. The younger tortoise looked over from where he was gleefully incinerating a cluster of leeches beneath torrents of white flame.

"What?"

"Go aid the hatchling!" Vorduun barked.

"Ensure the Viscount is purified of that foul taint. We will handle the worms and leeches." Brahm blinked.

"But I'm making tremendous progress!" The younger tortoise crushed another leech beneath one clawed foot.

"There's pure essence everywhere!"

"That was not a request." Brahm visibly deflated. Vorduun narrowed his eyes.

"Consider this punishment for moving ahead of the Front," he snapped.

"And a lesson you clearly still need." Brahm scoffed but reluctantly turned and sprinted toward the hollow beneath the Great Tree. Vorduun immediately looked back toward Tharvok just in time to see hundreds of thorned roots erupt upward around the Ashen Emperor. The battlefield shook violently. Massive vines thicker than tree trunks surged around Tharvok's limbs and shell in writhing layers while jagged roots speared upward from beneath him.

White flames exploded outward from the Emperor immediately, burning entire sections of growth into ash— —but the plants kept coming. Rowana darted backward through the rain with both arms raised.

"You still resist," she said softly. The corruption still bulging beneath her skin shifted visibly while violet lightning crackled through the storm overhead.

"What a shame. This incarnation, like every one before it, refuses to accept the truth." Her glowing eyes narrowed.

"We needed to be broken, Tharvok. Torn apart and remade without the chains that once bound us." Tharvok roared. White flames blasted through the storm hot enough to instantly vaporize rainwater into steam.

"I would rather be bound again and again," the old Emperor thundered, "than kneel before that corruptive monster!" He tore one arm free from the writhing vines and slashed through the growth surrounding him. Thorned roots exploded apart while blood sprayed from dozens of deep cuts across his flesh. The old tortoise looked horrific now. Long gashes carved through the leathery folds of skin hanging from his limbs and neck.

Thick black thorns protruded from his shoulders and legs where roots had pierced deep into muscle. Blood mixed with rainwater and streamed down the broad plates of his shell in steady rivers while chunks of missing flesh exposed pale bone beneath. Yet Tharvok still fought. Still roared defiance into the storm. Rowana was not unscathed either. Large sections of her body had blackened beneath the Emperor's flames.

Burned flesh split across one side of her face while several swollen growths beneath her skin ruptured repeatedly, spilling fresh leeches onto the soaked battlefield. Her breathing had grown heavy and uneven now. If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. But she was still winning. Vorduun surged forward through the battlefield.

"Tharvok!" he roared.

"Hold on!" The Ashen Emperor inhaled sharply then ash exploded outward around him in a spiraling vortex. The storm of ash expanded violently enough to rip apart entire walls of vines while white flames burned within the center like a miniature sun. Vorduun's eyes widened. The Emperor was desperate if he was pulling out his Ashen Vortex.

"I'm coming!" Vorduun shouted. Then he heard Tharvok's voice. Quiet and resigned beneath the raging maelstrom.

"It is too late for me, old friend." Vorduun froze. Rain hammered the battlefield. The vortex of ash swirled around the Emperor. Tharvok's black eyes met Vorduun's through the swirling vortex.

"It is unfortunate things ended this way." Then the sky split apart. A colossal bolt of violet lightning crashed downward from the storm clouds above, striking the Ashen Emperor directly. The battlefield vanished beneath blinding purple-white light. The vortex of ash detonated outward instantly while thunder shook the area hard enough to crack the earth beneath Vorduun's feet.

Violet lightning crawled across the Emperor's massive body in branching arcs while white fire erupted uncontrollably from every crack in his shell. Flesh blackened. Skin split apart beneath the impossible heat while entire sections of the ancient tortoise collapsed into glowing ash. The smell of burning flesh filled the battlefield as Tharvok's body gave out completely. The ancient Emperor collapsed inward. His flesh disintegrated first. Then bone. Then shell.

Everything he had been dissolved into swirling white ash beneath the storm. Vorduun stared in horror. Then the ash moved. The swirling cloud rushed across the battlefield directly toward him. It hit like a tidal wave. White ash engulfed Vorduun entirely while immense quantities of pure essence flooded through his channels and Core all at once. Ancient power poured into him in overwhelming surges while heat spread through every inch of his body. Memories flooded his mind in shattered fragments.

A massive obsidian-black turtle standing unbroken beneath a storm-dark sky. A shell lined with jagged defensive spines. Onyx scales reflecting ritual light in oil-dark bands. The sensation of retaliatory force reverberating through his body as enemy attacks shattered against him. A ritual chamber burning gold beneath countless glyphs. Eggs spread across a massive dais. Cynthia's voice. He stepped forward without hesitation as something unknown to him seeped into the ritual lattice.

The feeling of his inner world collapsing apart as his power poured into the array. Darkness splitting open. His body dissolving while the sliver of violet recoiled beneath the sacrifice. As Vorduun remembered who he truly was, the fractured memories surged together into a coherent whole. The crown had passed. Vorduun's eyes widened. Then slowly narrowed toward Rowana. White fire poured from between his jaws and the newly ascended Emperor charged.

Aquelion tore the remaining restraints apart and staggered free while black sludge streamed from his body in thick reeking currents. Violet and aquamarine lines warred visibly beneath his scales, both colors pulsing violently through his channels. Cade's stomach tightened. He couldn't blame Pearl. She had pushed herself beyond her limits already. Which meant he would have to continue the baptism while fighting. Aquelion turned toward him.

One glowing violet eye locked directly onto Cade as the massive gator charged. Cade tensed immediately and prepared to release [Hyperfocused Meditation] when a blazing sphere of white fire slammed into Aquelion from the side before Cade could move. The impact detonated across the hollow. Aquelion crashed sideways through the mud while the burning figure rolled with him in a storm of ash and white flame. Brahm. The younger tortoise roared loudly as he tackled the Viscount across the hollow.

"Keep focusing on the baptism!" Brahm bellowed.

"I'll handle this oversized lizard!" Relief flashed through Cade then he immediately redoubled his focus. He inhaled another massive stream of essence from the burning ninth pillar and cycled it through his channels before forcing it through the tether connected to the ash still coating and flowing through Aquelion's body. The ash surged harder. More sludge erupted from the Viscount and even with his upgraded skill, Cade could feel them dulling the ash.

"Burn the impurities!" Cade shouted.

"They're interfering with the baptism!" Brahm's eyes lit up.

"Now that sounds fun!" The younger tortoise immediately changed tactics. Instead of trying to overpower Aquelion directly, Brahm began grappling aggressively while flooding the gator with white fire. He slammed bodily into the Viscount and latched onto the gator's side while torrents of white flames poured from his jaws across the corruption coating Aquelion's scales. The sludge ignited instantly.

Violet black filth burned away in steaming clouds while fresh ash poured deeper into exposed sections of the Viscount's body. Aquelion roared and twisted violently. His massive jaws snapped toward Brahm while violet lightning crackled beneath black scales. The younger tortoise ducked beneath the bite and slammed one claw up into Aquelion's jaw hard enough to hurl the gator backward into the air. White fire exploded across the Viscount's belly immediately afterward. More corruption burned away.

More ash penetrated deeper. The violet lines beneath Aquelion's scales receded as aquamarine spread further with every passing second. Cade felt the baptism accelerating again. He pushed his will and essence harder into the tether. Ash surged through Aquelion's channels like a living storm of purification.

Some of it dissolved the corruption outright wherever it encountered weaker impurities, while the rest wrapped around denser masses of violet rot and dragged them violently toward the surface alongside every other impurity buried within the Viscount.

"Just a little longer!" Cade shouted. Brahm grunted as Aquelion slammed him bodily into one of the massive root pillars surrounding the hollow. The impact cracked bark and shook the massive root hard enough to rain splinters and ash. Aquelion immediately followed up. The Viscount lunged through the falling debris with jaws spread wide while violet lightning crackled wildly beneath black scales.

Thick black sludge streamed from his body as the incomplete baptism continued tearing corruption free from deep inside him. Brahm barely twisted aside in time. Aquelion's jaws slammed shut inches from the younger tortoise's arm before the Viscount's tail whipped around and crashed into Brahm's side hard enough to launch him through the mud. Brahm rolled once and immediately surged back to his clawed feet in a burst of white flame.

"You are entirely too large to be this fast!" he shouted. Aquelion roared and charged again. This time Brahm met him head-on. White fire exploded outward as the younger tortoise slammed into the Viscount. Ash and corrupted sludge blasted outward around them. Brahm latched onto Aquelion's side with both foreclaws and unleashed another torrent of white flame directly across the Viscount's ribs. The corruption coating the scales ignited instantly.

Black-violet filth burned away in hissing clouds while fresh streams of pearlescent ash penetrated deeper into the exposed channels beneath. Aquelion fought through the pain. One massive claw raked across Brahm's shell hard enough to carve deep grooves while another slammed into the younger tortoise's neck. Brahm staggered but refused to let go. He kept burning. Kept forcing openings for the ash to penetrate deeper. Kept burning the corruption away every time it surged to the surface.

But the battle was wearing on him. His breathing had grown ragged beneath the exertion of battling against the Viscount. Then Brahm made a mistake. The younger tortoise over committed to another grapple and slipped in the vile effluent coating the ground. Aquelion lunged at the opportunity, his massive jaws snapped toward Brahm's exposed neck. A thick vine lashed across the hollow. It wrapped around the upper half of Aquelion's jaws and yanked violently sideways just before the bite closed.

The Viscount's teeth slammed shut inches from Brahm's face. Pearl knelt nearby in the mud with trembling arms outstretched. Brahm blinked in surprise then grinned.

"Thanks!" Pearl only gave a weak nod before nearly collapsing again. Cade pushed harder. The baptism was almost complete now. He could feel it. Most of the violet had vanished beneath Aquelion's scales. Brilliant aquamarine channels glowed across nearly the entire Viscount while only one eye still burned with lingering violet corruption. Almost there.

Cade inhaled another overwhelming flood of essence from the burning ninth pillar and cycled it through his channels hard enough that pain spread through his body from the pressure. Then he forced every last bit of it through the tether. He thought about the tiny hatchling emerging from the egg. The little gator curled beside him beneath the swamp canopy. The hatchling had been curious. Innocent. Untouched by the corruption festering within Cynthia's Legacy. Aquelion deserved the chance to choose his own life.

Not one forced onto him by another's will. The ash erupted through the Viscount one final time. Every remaining trace of violet corruption tore free from Aquelion's channels in thick writhing streams before igniting beneath Brahm's white fire. The hollow filled with Aquelion's screams before silence crashed down as the last of the violet was pulled free. Aquamarine exploded through Aquelion's body.

His channels blazed brighter than Cade had ever seen before while the last traces of corruption burned away into drifting ash. The massive gator staggered once. Then collapsed heavily into the mud. Ding! Dungeon Quest Updated: Cleanse Cynthia's Legacy Progress: Minor Corruption Cleansed: 25 / 100 Major Corruption Cleansed: 2 / 2 Prime Corruption Cleansed: 0 / 1